In memory of Professor Hanno Hardt (1934-2011)
Slavko SPLICHAL
[excerpts]
Critical theory of the media lost one of its most distinguished pioneers on October 11, 2011 when Hanno Hardt died at the age of 76 after a short illness. As one of his former students said, 'everyone who knew him always referred to him by his first name only – like "Prince" or "Madonna"'. Hanno was an outstanding international communication scholar and author; a brilliant historian; a creative public intellectual in the noblest sense of the word; an inexhaustible source of ideas and great inspiration for many generations of students and colleagues in America, Europe and Asia; a renowned documentary photographer; and a great friend and companion to many. Students remember Hanno ‘as a rarity in the U.S. academia, a prophet whose time has finally come,’ as one of his Iowa students wrote. ‘His work always had a social project behind it. Social justice was the cornerstone in the way he approached the content in class. He inspired scholarship of the ordinary with a lofty goal.’
Author’s biography
Slavko Splichal is Professor of Communication and Public Opinion at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Social Sciences and Fellow of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Director of the European Institute for Communication and Culture (EURICOM), Splichal has convened its annual International Colloquia since 1987 and is editor of its SSCI-indexed journal Javnost-The Public. He was a member of the International Council and Deputy Secretary General of the International Association for Mass Communication Research. His research interests include communication theory, media politics, public opinion, and communication research methods. His publications are available at: http://izumbib.izum.si/bibliografije/Y20111026233409-03661.html